Communications cable with fabric sleeve

ABSTRACT

A communications cable (11) is provided with a pliant sleeve (12, 21, 31) to allow it to be more easily inserted into a conduit. One form of the sleeve (12) has hook (14) and loop (15) connected to each other so that the sleeve (12) can engage the cable (11). Another form of the sleeve (21) is spring-loaded to engage the cable (11). In a third form of the sleeve (31) has an adhesive (33) which attaches the sleeve (31) to the cable (11).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/839,362 filed on Apr. 3, 2020, which was a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/712,101 filed on May 14, 2015 (now U.S.Pat. No. 10,862,280), which was a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/455,356 filed on Jun. 2, 2009 (now U.S. Pat. No.9,054,507) which claimed priority of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/132,698 filed Jun. 23, 2008, all of which are incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a communications cable which is provided witha fabric sleeve installed on the cable at the factory or in the fieldjust before the cable is installed into a conduit. Such a sleeve makesit easier to install cables into a conduit already having a cabletherein without damage to either cable.

BACKGROUND ART

Positioning cables in underground communication conduits which extendfor several thousand feet has long been a problem. Such is particularlytrue when it is desired to position an additional cable or cables into aconduit that already has a cable in it. That cable, particularly becauseof its plastic jacket, provides a great deal of friction to the newcable as it is attempted to be inserted into the conduit. As a result,the new or the existing cable may be easily damaged due to thatfriction. Such is particularly true when the cable in the conduit isungulating which causes the cable being introduced to take a sinuous,friction-laden path.

An extremely successful solution to this problem is a fabric innerductsold under the trademark MAXCELL® by TVC Communications, LLC and shownin U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,371 which is incorporated by reference forwhatever details may be necessary to understand the present invention.This innerduct is first positioned in a conduit and divides the conduitinto longitudinally extending compartments. When a cable is positionedin one of the compartments, a pull tape or rope that is in anothercompartment is utilized to pull a second cable into that compartment.Because there is fabric between the cables, the friction is not on thecable jacket but on the fabric which makes installation easier.

However, a problem can exist when using these innerducts in smalldiameter conduits which extend long distances. In these small conduits,the fabric innerduct takes up much of the space in the conduit and thetape or rope may tend in lock up in the innerduct thereby impeding theability to pull in a cable.

As a result, the need exists for a more efficient manner in which toinstall a cable into a conduit, particularly a small diameter conduit.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is thus an object of one aspect of the present invention to provide acable with a pliant sleeve.

It is an object of another aspect of the present invention to provide acable and sleeve assembly which is easy to insert both into an emptyconduit or into an innerduct within the conduit.

It is an object of an additional aspect of the present invention toprovide a method of forming a cable with a pliant sleeve and introducingthe cable and sleeve assembly into a conduit.

These and other objects of the present invention, as well as theadvantages thereof over existing prior art forms, which will becomeapparent from the description to follow, are accomplished by theimprovements hereinafter described and claimed.

In general, an apparatus to be introduced into a conduit made inaccordance with the present invention includes a cable having a lengthand a pliant sleeve positioned around the cable for substantially theentire length.

The present invention also relates to a method of introducing alongitudinally extending cable into a conduit which includes the stepsof wrapping a pliant material around substantially the entire length ofthe cable and thereafter introducing the wrapped cable into the conduit.

Preferred exemplary cable and sleeve assemblies according to theconcepts of the present invention are shown by way of example in theaccompanying drawings without attempting to show all the various formsand modifications in which the invention might be embodied, theinvention being measured by the appended claims and not by the detailsof the specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the manner in which a conventionalcable is wrapped with a fabric sleeve and inserted in to conduit.

FIG. 2 is an end view of a fabric sleeve made in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the sleeve of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a cable and sleeve of the presentinvention showing the sleeve of FIGS. 2 and 3 wrapped around the cable.

FIG. 5 is an end view of an alternative version of a fabric sleeve madein accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the sleeve of FIG. 5 .

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a cable and sleeve of the presentinvention showing the sleeve of FIGS. 5 and 6 wrapped around the cable.

FIG. 8 is an end view of another alternative version of a fabric sleevemade in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a cable and a sleeve of FIG. 8 wrappedaround the cable.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

One form of a cable and sleeve assembly made in accordance with thepresent invention is indicated generally by the numeral 10 and includesa communications cable 11 and a sleeve generally indicated by thenumeral 12. Cable 11 is a conventional item and, as such, typicallyincludes a plurality of conductive wires encapsulated within a plasticjacket. Sleeve 12 may be made of a pliant material such as the fabricdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,485, and can be in the form of alongitudinally extending sheet 13 of material having a fastening systemformed on opposed edges thereof. Such a system could be glue or someother adhesive, or it could be the VELCRO® hook and loop fasteningsystem shown. Thus, one edge on one side of sheet 13 may be providedwith a hook connector 14 and the opposed edge on the other side of sheet13 may be provided with the companion loop connector 15. The width ofthe sheet between the connectors 14 and 15 generally corresponds to thecircumference of cable 11 such that when sleeve 12 is positioned oncable 11, as shown in FIG. 4 , connectors 14 and 15 may engage eachother to tightly hold sleeve 12 on cable 11.

An alternative cable and sleeve assembly is shown in FIG. 7 andgenerally indicated by the numeral 20. There, the conventional cable 11is shown as receiving a spring-loaded sleeve of fabric or thin plasticmaterial generally indicated by the numeral 21 which is formed of asheet 22 having opposed edges 23 and 24. As shown, edge 24circumferentially overlaps a portion of sheet 22 to provide a tight gripon cable 11.

Another alternative cable and sleeve assembly is shown in FIG. 9 andgenerally indicated by the numeral 30. There, the conventional cable 11is shown as receiving a fabric sleeve generally indicated by the numeral31. Like sleeve 12, sleeve 31 may be formed of a pliant or fabricmaterial and provided in the form of a longitudinally extending sheet32. As best shown in FIG. 8 , one side of sheet 32 can be provided withan adhesive 33. The width of sheet 32 generally corresponds to thecircumference of cable 11 such that when sheet 32 is placed on cable 11with its adhesive 33 side facing the plastic jacket of cable 11, sheet32 firmly engages the plastic jacket of cable 11 as shown in FIG. 9 .

The cable sleeve assemblies 10, 20, or 30 may be manufactured andassembled at the factory and shipped on rolls to the underground conduitconstruction site. Typically, such rolls could have two thousand or morefeet of assemblies 10, 20, or 30 thereon to be played out and insertedinto an underground conduit by conventional systems.

Alternatively, a sleeve 12 or 21 could be applied to the cable 11 in thefield as schematically shown in FIG. 1 . In this instance, a roll 40 ofcable 11 and a roll 41 of a sleeve 12 or 21 are provided at the site forinstallation into a conduit. The cable 11 and sleeve 12 in the conditionshown in FIG. 2, 3 or 8 or the sleeve 21 in the condition shown in FIGS.5 and 6 , are fed to a device 43. In the instance of operation with asleeve 12 or 31, device 43 is a folder which wraps sleeve 12 or 31around cable 11 as they simultaneously pass through device 42 to formassembly 10. In the instance of operation with a sleeve 21, device 42can be a spreader which opens sleeve 21 so that the cable 11 may passbetween edges 23 and 24. The spreader then releases sleeve 21 to allowsleeve 21 to snap back to its original condition and now formingassembly 20. The resulting cable and sleeve assembly 10, 20 or 30 maythen be pulled into a conduit by a conventional rope or pull tape or maybe provided to a conventional cable pushing/blowing machine 43 whichincludes tractor-like devices 44 to grip assembly 10 or 20 and push itinto and through a conduit (not shown) to the right in FIG. 1 . Thepushing movement of devices 44 can be assisted by the blowing of airinto the conduit as is known in the art.

By wrapping a cable with a pliable material which has less friction thanthe jacket of a cable, assemblies 10, 20 or 30 can be more easilyinstalled into a conduit which does not have an innerduct therein. As aresult, the cost of the innerduct is saved. On the other hand, if theconduit does have an innerduct already positioned therein, the cablesleeve assemblies 10, 20 or 30 are also more easily inserted into acompartment of the innerduct.

As a result, a cable sleeve assembly 10, 20 or 30 manufactured and usedas described herein accomplishes the objects of the invention andotherwise substantially improves the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of inserting a cable at an installationsite where the cable is to be inserted into a longitudinally extendingunderground conduit using a longitudinally extending initially flatfabric sheet of material having a coefficient of friction less than thatof the cable relative to the conduit, the fabric sheet having a bondingmember extending longitudinally along edges of the fabric sheet,comprising the steps of wrapping the fabric sheet around the cable atthe installation site by confining the cable within the fabric sheet andconnecting the bonding members without allowing the bonding members toengage the cable, and thereafter introducing the wrapped cable into theconduit.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the cable is provided at theinstallation site on a reel and the fabric sheet is provided at theinstallation site on a reel, and further comprising the steps ofremoving the fabric sheet from its reel and removing the cable from itsreel, said step of wrapping being performed by combining the removedfabric sheet and the removed cable.
 3. A method of inserting a cable atan installation site of a longitudinally extending underground conduitusing a longitudinally extending initially flat fabric sheet of materialhaving a coefficient of friction less than that of the cable relative tothe conduit, the fabric sheet having a bonding member extendinglongitudinally along edges of the fabric sheet, comprising the steps ofwrapping the fabric sheet around the cable at the installation site,engaging the fabric sheet to the cable by connecting the bonding memberswithout allowing the bonding members to engage the cable, and thereafterintroducing the wrapped cable into the conduit.